a fun and COLD day

Chris and I got to go see our fave football team play today. It was great! And COLD! It was about 33 degrees and raining. Our favorite team happened to play in our hometown so we were rooting for the "opponents." That is always slightly scary. We even dressed in our Blue! And here, the peeps love their sports teams. We got some good natured teasing but nothing too serious. We were called "assholes" once. But he was kidding, I think.

This is a picture from our seats. Not bad! And they were free company tickets. Bonus!

Peyton in the huddle!

Me and my baby. We were surrounded by orange!

What's a football game without beer? Look at Chris rubbing his hands in anticipation. They were only $7 each. Gasp.

And the final score. We never play the Browns well. Oh well. We won anyway!

thanksgiving - take 2!

What a whirlwind trip home! I am pooped!

I am only blogging because Carissa yelled at me about not blogging often enough. So this one's for you Carissa!

It was so good to see family and friends. I love my hometown and I love to go home. I didn't get very many pictures though. Bad mommy. I should also mention that I ate WAY too much.

Oh, and Abby, upon closer inspection, I love them even more!! You rock!

Ellie getting ready to eat.

A cuddle with Auntie Linda.

The placecards that Jo made. Aren't they cute! Yes, that is the back of Chris' head with sunglasses on it. Goofball.

A nap is in order!!

thanksgiving - take one!

Paigey's house for Thanksgiving is my favorite place! They have the most beautiful house and I just love it there. They missed last year cause Nick's high school was marching at Disney World. This year they are missing to take Nick to check out colleges. Whatever. (Kidding!) All I know is I wasn't about to miss 2 years in a row of hot cider, a roaring fire, and dumplings. So what did I do? I guilted Paige into a pity invite and we had a pseudo Thanksgiving yesterday. It was divine. The only thing missing was Pumpkin Pie. Paige and I were the only ones who would eat it so it seemed silly to bake one.

Earlier in the day Ellie tried out her new boots and gloves.

It was about here that Ellie asked me if I brought the diaper bag. When I said no, she said "but what if I need a snack? You have to take the diaper bag wherever we go Mom!" Oh. Okay. Good to know.

Dinner! YUM! Nick, Izzy, Chris and Ellie. and wine!!

Daddy tried to give bunny ears, but Ellie is too smart for that!

Thanks Paige for dinner. It was just delicious! We will miss you guys. Safe travels!! Love you!

elf on a shelf

I love the idea of an advent calendar for Ellie but I wasn't sure I wanted to give her a little gift every single day. I also love the idea of Elf on a Shelf. If you don't know about him you can read about it HERE.

So, I have decided to combine the two. What I am going to do is hide him around the house for Ellie to find every morning. Only some mornings there is going to be a little gift with him because he got into trouble the night before (he will leave cookie crumbs, spilled milk, or something like that.) The gift will be his apology. I have 5 little gifts he is going to leave.

I found this perfect little guy at T.J. Maxx and am so excited for December 1st so I can introduce him to Ellie. Isn't he cute! He is also bendy so I can put him in lots and lots of positions.

Now I just need a name. Any ideas??

Also, I decided on THIS nativity for Ellie. It was cheaper and I don't think she will outgrow it as soon. What do you think? This is the first gift that Elf is going to leave. All the other gifts are little dollar thingys. Like I said...I am excited!!!

nativity

I just love THIS!

The Nativity is my favorite decoration to put up every year and the two we have are definitely not toddler friendly. I am looking and looking for one for Ellie but don't think I can justify the $40.00 price tag. I got her a little teeny tiny one for $2, with ornament figures, for one of her advent presents (remind me to post about that! I am doing a different version of the "Elf on the Shelf" idea. I am very excited!), but the minute I saw this today I wanted it. Ellie loves her little people and we play with them all the time. Can you see me trying to justify?

I will have to think on it awhile.

you are not gonna believe it...

I checked out a preschool today. For Ellie. It doesn't seem time for this. YIKES! Registration starts in January so I figured it was best to go now, before all the craziness of the holidays sets in.

That said, I LOVED this place. It teach a very child led curriculum (the Reggio-Emilia approach) and I think it is really cool. It was great to see all the kids following directions and standing in line and such. Ellie seems so incapable of that now. I guess that is what preschool is for, right? To teach kids (among the educational stuff) how to follow direction and take turns. This time next year, Ellie will be in school. I will never have to take her to the grocery again.

On a different note, below are some rejects of my Christmas card photo shoot. I can't put the real ones on here because most of you readers are getting a card!

Cheese!

Oops, forgot to turn off the flash.

flash lightening!!

12 step Santa program

So Ellie is absoutely terrified of Santa. She is okay seeing stuffed Santas, or talking about Santa, but to see an actual Santa in a mall (yes, they have been in our malls for 2 weeks, WTH?) gives her the shakes and seriously terrorizes her.

We have been working on it. I am taking her through a 12 step program. Here are the steps we have completed so far.

1. Talking about Santa
2. Showing her cute stuffed Santas
3. Reading books about Santa
4. Telling her Santa brings presents!
5. Showing her stuffed Santas that sing and dance (not a fan)
6. Stopping 30 ft away from a real Santa and waving (she did not wave but covered her face!)
7. Santa waved while she was on the train (this one was not intentional. She wanted to ride the little Christmas train at the mall so I put her on it. The Santa there was really good and came over to wave at the kids on the train. Cool right? Wrong. It was 7 minutes of true torture for my kid. God Bless her. She didn't cry, but she did ride the entire time with her eyes closed. I actually had to go get her when the train stopped and she looked up at me and said "Santa no wave!"

So that is as far as we have gotten. That might be as far as we get. Other steps include:

8. Getting 20 feet from Santa and waving
9. Getting 10 feet from Santa and waving
10. Saying Hi to Santa
11. Giving Santa a high five
12. Sitting on Santas lap

I don't want to do anything to really scare her. The only reason I am putting her through all this is because Santa is EVERYWHERE and I want her to enjoy Christmas! I am not going to force her on his lap or anything!

We were driving home from the mall yesterday and I was telling her (again) about how Santa is a nice man and he brings presents to all the children of the world and we was going to come to our house on Christmas Eve and leave presents for her! Know what she said?

"Is he coming from the mall?"

I think a discussion of the North Pole is in order.

Also, I need to figure out how to incorporate Jesus into all this. I mean, he is the reason for the season.

she did what?

My kid. God. Bless. America. I hope that someday all this headstrongness and stubborness pay off and she is running some company or something because right now, she is driving me bananas.

Her new favorite phrase is "Stop doing that!" Usually screamed. She says it when I am doing something she would rather I not be doing, such as changing poopy pants or trying to corral her mop of hair. She puts her little hand out and says "Stop doing that!" This I could handle. I understand it is her way of trying to assert herself, blah, blah, blah.

Then the other night, she was sitting in her chair, reading stories and it was time for bed. I gave her a 5 minute warning, then read 2 books to her (with me on the floor and her in the chair!) and picked her up to put her in bed. Again, "Stop doing that!" but this time as she said it, she HIT me on the head. HIT ME. At first I was stunned. Then I was crushed. Then I was MAD. I wasn't sure how to handle it. I let her know, in no uncertain terms, that hitting was NOT ok and how much she hurt Mommy's feelings. I grabbed her little hand and held it firmly during this conversation. She looked scared and I felt bad. She apologized and went to bed. Did I handle it right? I have no idea. The fact that it was bedtime made it difficult to determine if it was just tiredness or something more.

It was something more. Since then she has hit me one more time (at gymnastics in front of other mothers, how embarrasing!!) when I made her get off the trampoline. This time I again grabbed her hand, whispering furiously in her ear how that, again, is NOT ok and put her in a time-out in a corner. Of gymnastics. In front of other mothers. Did I mention it was the first class and that now she is going to be known as the kid who hits. When she really isn't the kid who hits. She is just frustrated because she wanted to jump longer and it was time to go. Hitting is, apparently, her new way of asserting herself. Must nip this in the bud immediately.

Any suggestions??

This mother stuff is hard.

top 5 fave movies of all time

Just for fun I thought I would do a countdown of my top 5 favorite movies and lines that Chris and I constantly use from these movies.

Number 5 - Nothing to Lose

If you haven't seen this movie, you are really missing out. Funniest movie I have ever seen.

Lines used :
"You must be fast" - used when (obviously) one of us surprises the other with our quickness
"There's a spider on your head" - used just when we need a laugh. It pops up on occasion out of nowhere. There are actually swear words in the line but in keeping with my family friend blog...

Number 4 - A League of Their Own

Awesome movie. I laugh and cry at the same time during this movie.

Lines used:
"There's no crying in baseball" - used with Ellie a lot when she is crying for no apparent reason.
"Avoid the Clap, Jimmy Dugan" - again, used just to make ourselves laugh.
Gestures used:
furious finger motions - used with Ellie to make her laugh, or when we need the other one NOW...see below


Number 3 - Armageddon

It doesn't hurt that a HOT Ben Affleck is in this one.

Lines used:
"what are you doing with a gun in space" - used when we don't know why the other person is doing what they are doing.
"this is a surrealistic nightmare" - used anytime something is going wrong.

Number 2 - Braveheart

I didn't really know what this movie was about when we went to go see it and I was crying so hard at the end that people were turning and looking at me. Chris was so embarrased.

Lines used:
"He wasn't right in the head" - by the crazy Irishman - used (in an Irish accent) when ever someone does something completely stupid. We tend to save this one for strangers, like the idiot who pulls out in front of us, or the waiter who gets our order wrong.
"I love ya, always have, always will" - used (in a scottish accent) when we need to express our undying love for one another. See below. Blush.

And finally, my favorite movie of all time - Number 1 - Forrest Gump

I mean seriously. Is any explanation even needed? Apparently I do a good Forrest Gump. I can put my family in hysterics. Next time you see me, ask me to do it!

Lines used:

"I was running!" - used whenever one of us is in a hurry or sees the other one running

"I must have drank me 16 Dr. Peppers" - used whenever one has to pee

"Those look like comfortable shoes" - obvious

"Something bit me" - used when we get hurt

"Run Forrest Run!!" - used when we need the other to hurry

"Cough due cold" - used when we don't feel good, as in, "I have a cough due cold"

"I went to the White House, again, to meet the President of the United States, again" - used when we are doing something we have done 3 million times before, like change a diaper

So there you have it. My favorites. Best movies of all time.

friday night

Chris just informed me that it has been entirely too long since I blogged. So, here is what is going on right this minute.

7:54 Friday night.

For dinner Ellie had mac and cheese, Chris had fishstick sandwiches, and I had rice and veggies. In other words, we were cleaning out the fridge.

Ellie had a bath and was devastated that her new jammies (4T!!) are too small. Devastated. They will be passed along to someone smaller I guess.

We are currently all in the playroom and Ellie is serving us (fake) ice cream and trying to tell us knock knock jokes.

I am trying to talk Chris into watching a scary movie tonight. He is such a wuss when it comes to scary movies. The Ring scarred him for life.

Chris is a wonderful hubby and is changing the poopy diaper. Yea!

8:00 Friday night. We are wild and crazy.

what's the big deal?

I have never understood why who a person is voting for is so hush-hush. I just don't get it. I am breaking the mold and telling everyone that I am voting for Obama. There are many reasons why, but to put it simply, he best represents the change I want to see in the world. Will I still like you if you vote for McCain? Of course. Would I like to have a debate over candidates? Sure. As long as it is respectful and civil. I don't care who you vote for. Just VOTE!

On another note, my good friend Jen and I took the kids to the park today. It was near 70 here so we had to get in one last nice day outside.
Here is Ellie happy to be outside.

Leaves! Yea!!

Our city gets a bum rap. It can be really beautiful here.

Young love? Nah. These two are best buds.

A screaming match. I'm not sure who won.

halloween 2008

I thought instead of posting on each Halloween activity we did, I could just wait til Halloween was over and post about ALL the things we did.

Boo at the Zoo: It was miserable and cold and rainy. We were there for about 30 minutes. Just enough time to get our goody bag and leave.

The lion did put on a good show though. He was roaring away in this pic. Ellie was enthralled!

My Mom's group party. I didn't take many pics, but I did get a cute one of Ellie and her girlfriends, Orly (snow white) and the other Ellie (Cinderella)

Actual Halloween day: Carving pumpkins. Ellie wasn't much help. She looked cute though.

Ellie the kitty and her Ellie pumpkin. I carve a pumpkin with her name in it every year. Somehow that has become a tradition!

"The candy goes in here Dad!"

The finished carved pumpkins. Pitiful I know. Look at this one my friend Abby did. Amazing.

Enjoying a blue sucker. Overall we did ok. 2 licks of a sucker, 1 pack of snack sized m&m's and a small snickers. She was asleep by 9:45.

Ellie and mommy handing out candy. I had over 700 pieces and ran out in less than 2 hours. That is only giving one piece per kid. We have a crazy neighborhood.

The pumpkins at night!

It was a great Halloween! Now on to the Holiday Season! My favorite!